


the good kind of silence

by solaleonis



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, anyways i said angel happiness rights, my angelborne brainrot will not yield i swear, these idiots take up my whole brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27025204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solaleonis/pseuds/solaleonis
Summary: angel is worried...about something - but won't tell oz what. maybe he's just worried that he's truly happy and is scared to admit it.
Relationships: Angel/Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	the good kind of silence

The sun had gone down a few hours ago and Oz had finally returned home for the day. He had a short day working at his record store, followed by a long band rehearsal. After getting the band back together, Dingoes finally began picking up more steam and gaining popularity, especially since leaving Sunnydale. It’s amazing what can happen to a band’s success when their only audience wasn’t local high schoolers, but he did always miss The Bronze. 

Although hanging with the guys at rehearsal was always a good time, Oz always looked forward to the end of the night when he could go home and see Angel. Their schedules worked fairly well together, especially since convincing Devon into moving their practices up earlier, and Angel slept through the day anyways.

Oz got out of his van and let himself into their apartment, which was always quiet and dimly lit. Angel never really made much noise, as he usually just sat in silence as he read books or sketched with charcoal. Today felt quieter than silent, and it seemed like Angel wasn’t even home. 

“Hey” Oz said softly, hanging his denim jacket by the door and walking into the living room where Angel sat. The living room was dim, but warmly lit by a string of edison bulbs draped across the brick wall at the focus of the room.

“You’re home later than usual. How was rehearsal?” Angel said in an observant, but rather monotone voice. He sat in a patched up armchair, looking out the window. Their apartment was full of cool, mismatched furniture the two of them found, which Oz refurbished as a project he often did with Xander. 

“Rehearsal was good. Ran a bit late though, and then I stopped by Giles’ place to bring him a new vinyl we got in the store today.” Oz made his way to where Angel was sitting and wrapped his arms around him from behind the chair, gently resting his head on top of Angel’s. “How was your day? Or well...night?”

“It was fine. Nothing too exciting.” Angel sounded distant, like he often did when he had a particularly broody day. But this time was different. Angel seemed concerned about something, but Oz wasn’t sure what. All he knew was that he could always sense the way people were feeling, and Angel’s scent was nervous. 

Oz sat down on the couch next to where Angel was sitting, and they sat in silence for a while. The silence was usually perfect and comfortable, but tonight there was tension in the air. “What are you thinking about?” Oz looked over at Angel, hoping he’d shed some light on his nerves. They usually opened up to each other when they were deep in thought, and their late night conversations were some of Oz’s favourites.

“Nothing. I’m just...it’s fine.” 

“You seem worried.” Oz asked, with a glimmer of concern in his eyes. He had no idea what had Angel so concerned, but given their history, he feared it was apocalypse-y. “Your scent...it’s... all over the place.”

“Damnit Oz...stop smelling me all the time!” Angel snapped at Oz, raising his voice a bit. Oz could see that Angel regretted his words instantly. “I just...I want to be alone for a bit.”

“Sure.” Oz got up from his spot on the couch and placed a gentle kiss on Angel’s forehead. “I’ll let you chill for a bit.”

Oz headed into their spare room, which Angel typically used as an office, but Oz kept his guitars in there sometimes. He took his black acoustic off the wall and flopped onto the comfy chair placed in the corner of the room. He gently strummed a little bit, not really playing anything, but using the strings as something to fidget with. Playing random nonsense on his guitar always made him feel better. Oz knew Angel didn’t mean to snap at him, and that his tone just didn’t come out right. He wasn’t really upset, or mad at Angel - he just...wished he would tell him what’s bothering him so much.

* * *

A short while later, Oz wandered back out into the living room, carrying his guitar. Angel hadn’t moved at all, and continued looking out the window from his spot in the chair. 

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Oz resumed his spot from earlier, setting his guitar down on the seat next to him. After a few minutes of sitting together, Oz looking down at the floor and Angel still looking out the window, Oz broke the silence. “So you asked about Dingoes rehearsal, but I didn’t get a chance to show you this thing I've been working on.”

“Hmm?” Angel looked away from the window and put his focus on Oz, who had picked his guitar up off the seat. Oz held his instrument and began playing the tune of a song. The song was a bit gloomy, but soft and peaceful. He played for a few minutes, before finishing his song and looking over at Angel.

“I uh, wrote that for you today. Part of the reason rehearsal ran so late - I was working on this.”

“It doesn’t have any words.”

“I know. Haven’t really gotten to that part yet, I haven’t figured out the words.”

“I like it without words. I feel like I understand it more.”

“Yeah,” Oz smiled at him. The two of them sat in peaceful silence for a moment, the kind of silence they usually sat in - not needing to actually say anything but knowing exactly how the other is feeling.The tension was gone, but Oz could still sense Angel’s worry. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, I was wrong.”

“It’s fine.” Oz replied, moving his gaze from a spot on the floor to Angel. 

“No it’s not. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just…” Angel trailed off and put his head in his hands.

“What’s got you stressed? I don’t know what I can do...but this doesn’t seem like normal broodiness to me.”

“It’s me. Cordelia called me earlier to tell me she had a vision. About me.”

“Oh...So not the sunshine and rainbows kind of vision, huh?” Oz asked. Angel shook his head. “Well…what happened to you?”

“I changed. I became Angelus again.”

“Oh shit. Well, her visions have been wrong before, right? Or well, you were able to stop things before they happened?” Angel put his head in his hands again. “...what made you change?”

“She didn’t see much else, she just saw me - or, _him._ ” Angel continued, “I’ve been worried lately that this might happen. Because of you. Well...us.”

“What about us?”

“Perfect happiness, the whole deal. I guess there hasn’t been a _specific moment_ of perfect happiness big enough to trigger it. But the happiness is there.”

Oz smiled at him, and Angel subtly smiled back. 

“Well, if it happens...and I’m not exactly hoping that it happens...can’t we just re-ensoul you? We’ve done it before - I was there for that. Maybe without the whole ‘sending you to a hell dimension’ part. I’ll just get Willow to order Orb of Thesulahs in bulk.”

“It’s not that easy. Besides, they’re not the most common to track down anyways.”

“Well.. I guess we’ll just have to figure out a way to avoid it. Wil, Tara, and Jenny have been dying for a project anyways,” Oz thought aloud. “And I’d like to _not_ join the club of ‘having an evil boyfriend’ if possible.” Angel laughed.

Then the silence came again. The two of them sat in complete silence for what felt like ages, until Oz broke the silence again. “Hey Angel?”

Angel looked up.

“I love you,” Oz said to Angel for the first time. 

“I love you too, Daniel.” They smiled at each other and embraced the silence again.

**Author's Note:**

> my brain won't ever shut up about these two i swear. yes i know angel's "moment" is usually tied to sex but NOT IN MY REALITY thank u very much
> 
> also oz canonically having his own record store in my brain is something that can be so personal to me
> 
> as always, follow me on twitter @xanderhxrris i literally never shut up


End file.
